The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has condemned the ‘reckless comment’ by a member of the House of Representatives, Aminu Suleiman, on the Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe in Bayelsa state.

This was contained in a statement by the spokesman of the IYC worldwide, Henry Iyalah.He described the statement as not only misleading and reckless, but also capable of causing another crisis in the volatile region.

Suleiman is the Chairman, House Committee on Tertiary Education, represents Kano (Fagge Federal Constituency.)He was quoted to have said that rats and lizards were occupying the polytechnic, which was an erroneous impression on the true state of the institution.

The IYC spokesman said: “The Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe is functional with students and workers. At the time members of the committee on tertiary institution visited the school, the students were on holiday hence they were not available to receive the lawmakers.

“We warn the representative to desist from actions that would ignite another round of crisis in the Niger Delta region. The failed attempt to cancel the Maritime University, Okerenkoko had partly contributed to the renewed hostilities in the region.This had caused disastrous effect in the economy, which the country is yet to recover from.”

Iyalah further stated that the observance of lapses in the administration of an institution could not be used as a basis to stop it from existence. It is on record that the Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, has been facing management challenges.He added that the federal Ministry of Education has a duty to resolve the challenge and not to threaten to shut it down.

He explained that the IYC has it in authority that Suleiman’s committee was bent on closing the institution in order to transfer the resources allocated to it in the 2018 budget to the Kaduna Polytechnic.

The spokesman condemned the sectional and anti-Niger Delta initiative, which, he said would be resisted with all the resources at their disposal

The group urged the Speaker of the House of Representative, Yakubu Dogara to call Suleiman to order to avoid crisis in region. “We also call on members of the House from the Niger Delta region, especially those from Bayelsa State to rise up to the challenge and protect the interest of the region,” he said.